What to see: Masterpiece London 2018 at Royal Hospital Chelsea is one of summer's hottest art events
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The title of this leading art fair may set the bar high but Masterpiece London, which opens tomorrow at the Royal Hospital in Chelsea, is a wonderland of treasures, from Old Masters to furniture by Zaha Hadid; Chinese ceramics to Victorian silver. Everything, in fact, from spoons to sideboards, armchairs to artefacts, to modern and fine art.
The 160 international exhibitors are selected by reputation to give buyers confidence, while everything on display is vetted by specialists.
Prices reflect the items’ status, but less affluent visitors shouldn’t be put off, as it’s a wonderful learning opportunity. Dealers looking for sales are also keen to chat to visitors, who can view museum-quality objects close up.
Oscar Graf features Victorian and Edwardian British furniture, including works by EW Godwin, Christopher Dresser and Charles Rennie Mackintosh.
It’s interesting to compare these with an early 19th-century pair of polished French steel armchairs, at Perrin Fine Art. For lovers of the later 19th and early 20th centuries, H Blairman & Sons’ display this year includes a Donemana carpet (c1898) by CFA Voysey.
Mid-century modern European furniture includes a rare Fifties desk by Gio Ponti and Piero Fornasetti at Sinai and Sons, while 88 Gallery shows the Triennale standing lamp by Angelo Lelii for Arredoluce (c.1955) and a pair of Roberto Menghi upholstered metal armchairs (1958).
David Gill recreates a room based on the home of surrealist champion Edward James with contemporary artists’ work including a Mattia Bonetti armchair, Elle & Lui (2017).
There’s more contemporary furniture from Sarah Myerscough. Blackened or scorched wood is a theme, with new works such as John Makepeace’s scorched oak Black Trine Table (2018), scorched cabinets by David Gates (2018) and Joseph Walsh’s ebonized walnut and lacquer Cleft Cabinet (2017).
The contemporary approach continues at Katie Jones, who specialises in Japanese craft, and at Adrian Sassoon. He shows Hitomi Hosono’s delicate new floral vessels with hand-applied jasper ornamentation for Wedgwood, as well as a combination of modern ceramics, metalwork, glass and jewellery, alongside 18th-century French porcelain, especially Sèvres.
John Whitehead also serves up historic fine porcelain, including a Sèvres chocolate service (1773).
Tea drinkers will find an extraordinary silver Ouseley tea urn at Koopman Rare Art.
But the delights on offer go back much further, with a late-Roman jug at Rupert Wace and a Roman aubergine glass kantharos (mid-1st century BC) at Kallos Gallery, new to Masterpiece this year.
These pieces demonstrate that such simple but beautiful ancient objects work well in a contemporary setting.
They sit well with contemporary fine art such as never-before-exhibited Fifties fashion drawings by Andy Warhol; Bridget Riley’s Right Angle Curves Study No. 4 (1966) and Roy Lichtenstein’s, Untitled Head (1995) at Long-Sharp Gallery.
There’s more from all three artists at Sims Reed Gallery, plus works by David Hockney and Howard Hodgkin.
Hauser & Wirth, new at the show this year, offers yet more contemporary work in its cabinet of curiosities, bringing together a selection of pieces by Paul McCarthy, Louise Bourgeois, Phyllida Barlow, Anj Smith and Subodh Gupta, alongside 18th- and 19th-century furniture.
Masterpiece London, June 28 to July 4 (11am to 9pm weekdays, 11am to 7pm weekends at South Grounds, Royal Hospital Chelsea, SW3 (Bull Ring Gate on Chelsea Embankment. Pedestrian access via Barrack Gate, Chelsea Bridge Road.) Tickets £35. Daily half-hour highlights tours depart at noon from the Information Point.